Chương 114: Chapter 111
Albus Dumbledore wasn't enjoying himself.
He was stuck in the seats of Wizengamot for another session that involved nothing but the most trivial of matters, like the latest issue that was brought to table, passing a law preventing the goblins from buying up all the quality tea leaves and making it difficult for the everyday witch and wizard to find and buy good tea.
A particularly annoying voice drifted into his ears. "…goblins don't even drink tea. They cannot. It would mess their insides up and give them a sick stomach…"
Glancing at the right side of the chamber, he caught sight of the wrinkled smile on the face of Lord Mulciber. He was starting to get a pretty good feel of what the law was really all about.
Resisting the temptation to transfigure the so-called 'expert on goblin societal behavior' into a gerbil, Albus quickly sifted through the proposed law and looked through the points it proposed before underlining the real hidden key.
…aforementioned. The culminating solution to the entire gargantuan issue of goblin nation buying up tea they don't even use is to prevent shops from selling to them. Thus the…
And that was the heart of the matter, Albus thought.
Albus knew that goblins were some of the highest consumers of tea in the entire wizarding market.
While the expert was right about them not being able to drink it, most goblins did process and use the odor of tea as a stimulant to keep functioning in their fifteen hour working days.
Albus had never quite understood how that worked.
But that meant that the biggest buyer of tea in all of Magical Britain was the Gringotts bank, buying tea in bulk for its employees.
Albus also knew that international tea trade was one of the biggest sources of taxes for the ministry. By prohibiting goblins from buying tea, the International Magical Tea Industry would lose its biggest buyer in Magical Britain. This would cause them to pull out a lot of their resources from Britain, making shops close down and hundreds of jobs in the tea industry disappear.
And most importantly, the ministry would stop getting most of the import taxes on tea.
And then, Albus deduced, Lord Mulciber would call a meeting and call for a vote to reallocate all the tax money going into the Muggleborn Scholarship to other departments. Scared by the dropping market and the threat of a collapsing ministry due to lack of money, Wizengamot would vote to abolish the scholarship.
And Mulciber would get his wish, not giving a rat's arse about how many lives he destroyed in the way.
Albus sighed, struck with a sudden bout of sorrow as he realized that this was what the wizarding elite had become, taking whatever served their interest uncaring for how many got hurt along the way.
He took a resolute breath, pushing away those thoughts.
As long as he was alive, he'd keep fighting against that. Mulciber's plan was good. But he was Albus Dumbledore. He didn't just dabble in this game, he lived in it.
He caught the eye of Elphias Doge and gave him a subtle hand sign, signaling that he recommended a NO vote on this bill. Elphias whispered the message to his nearest seated member and the message spread across the entire light side members of the Wizengamot.
Seeing that, Albus interrupted the expert, "That's enough Miss Burgundy. The chair would like to thank you for your statement." the woman bowed low and was escorted out of the chamber by the clerk.
"It is now time to call for a vote. Those who wish to vote for the bill, raise your hand" a lot of the traditionalists raised their hands. Some traditionalists and most neutrals didn't. They had clearly been left out of the loop on the unnecessarily convoluted plan Mulciber had cooked up.
'Those who wish to vote against, raise your hand.' The bill was shot down by majority vote, and the wizarding world was safe again.
At least until the next meeting.
"The bill is voted down and taken off the table. This meeting of this august body is now adjourned." Albus slammed the gavel and the meeting was over.
He stood from his seat and headed to the attached loo in his office. He wanted to get some good food in a proper Italian restaurant before heading back to Hogwarts, and didn't want to have to relieve himself in the common toilet.
Entering the toilet, he hiked up his robes and let it flow, observing with a small smile that his bladder functions were as healthy as ever.
Of course, the universe could never be not messing up Albus Dumbledore's day. Just as he was washing his hands, a bright doe patronus barreled in through the loo door and started speaking in Snape's voice.
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